clunking/rattling & grinding REAR noises (98maxima)PLZ HELP!

[timurka]

Hello everybody.
Thanks for reading and help

I have recently purchased a 1998 Nissan Maxima SE 5 speed. Car seems very well maintained by the previous owner.

Right now this car has a problem (two to be exact): after about couple of minutes of driving, left rear side starts to give clunking/rattling noise on the bumps, even on the very small bumps (for example cracks in the pavement). This is the first problem and I could have lived with it, but I'm starting searching what is wrong with it because of the second problem.

Sometimes after clanking, or on its own, a sort of grinding sound comes from the rear. I am not sure if it comes from rear left or middle, but definitely rear. This grinding noise comes when I am driving straight or sometimes when i am turning. This drinding noise starts after I have been driving for at least 5 minutes and it persists occurring with longer duration and increasing frequency. This noise reverberates through the whole rear of the car and is pretty loud (ie very annoying).
Now, an "amazing way" to prevent and stop from occurring both clunking/rattling and grinding noises is to press on the brakes (even slight activation of brakes).
I took it to a mechanic, and he had nooo idea what happened. He lifted the car and we tried to pull anything and everything, but nothing seemed to be loose.


In my opinion, i think the grinding noise might be something to do with brakes. Maybe left rear caliper. But this is my uneducated guess.

I don't know what to do. Please give your suggestions. Thank you for your help.

[loystock]

Welcome to NICO.

Looks like you did not do a thorough test drive before buying the car. The clunking noise may be from worn out suspension, especially if they are the original set. Do a basic 'bounce test'

The grinding noise may be from impending bearing failure or worn out brake pads. Make sure your lug nuts are tight, torqued @ 80 ft-lbs. Jack up the rear and spin one wheel at a time to isolate the problem. Remove the wheels and inspect the brakes. On installation, make sure you torque the lug nuts correctly as too much torque can damage the wheels/rotors.

[timurka]

Well, me and my father we test drove it 3 times, for about 10 minutes. This problem did not come up during those times.

Today I took to another mechanic. The braking pads are new. The wheel bearing seems to be in a good shape too. During the "bounce test" there are no abnormal sounds and the car does not bounce around, moreover shocks appear to be not that old (but that may be deceiving, i guess).

The mechanic suggested for me to change the rear shocks. He also found that when I pull the hand brake: 1 the rear wheel caliper gets stuck when I release the parking brake. BUT 2 when i pull the hand brake the rear left wheel can still spin?

Can the rear caliper be the problem?
Shall I change both, the rear shocks and rear left caliper?

Thank you for your help.

[loystock]

The 'bounce test' will let you know if he suspension is bad but not if it's marginal or degraded. But clunking even on minor bumps/cracks on the roads usually points to a failing suspension.

As for the problems with the parking brake, it may be due to binding in the rear parking brake cables or maybe problem with the return spring. There is a single front parking brake cable connected to two rear cables. One of the rear cables could be binding. To check if you have a sticky caliper, jack up both rear wheels (you can use the center of the axle). With both parking brake and brake pedal released, check if you can freely spin each wheel. Then step on the brake pedal and let another person check if the wheel, especially the LH side can still spin. If so, most likely you have a bad caliper.

Additional testing can be done with both wheels removed to check the parking brake mechanism as well as the caliper themselves, but unless you are mechanically inclined and has some knowledge on how the the brake system works, you might as well leave it to the mechanic. BTW, you have to make sure that the brake fluid level is correct before doing anything else.

[timurka]

Hello,
just an update.
All of the clunking and grinding sounds was due to left rear caliper.
I got a mechanic to change it for starter and YEI! it solved it.
That problem sounded a lot more serious then it was.

Thank you for your help everybody